


A Different Step

by tothineownelfbetrue



Series: Spun Sugar Sweet [3]
Category: Disenchantment (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: A royal function where things don't go to hell for once, Bean leads, Bean's done listening to stupid patriarchal rules, Established Relationship, F/M, Made up dances, Meaningless Fluff, Romance, They Dance Together, formal events are dull, mention of canon racism, mention of canon sexism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:06:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28015935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tothineownelfbetrue/pseuds/tothineownelfbetrue
Summary: Elfo is excited to go to their first formal event as a couple but Bean's a little worried. Between their rather unconventional relationship and their terrible track record at royal functions becoming massacres, who knows what might happen at this one?or: That weird fic where Bean and Elfo dance and - finally - nothing goes wrong.
Relationships: Bean | Tiabeanie/Elfo (Disenchantment)
Series: Spun Sugar Sweet [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685695
Comments: 11
Kudos: 9





	A Different Step

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta read. Just an excuse for light romantic fluff.

-

"I can't believe we're doing another of these..." Bean groused aloud, looking over the dress she'd been handed by Bunty. 

It was another of those events that Bean had always hated having to go to. She couldn't really remember the reason why they'd scheduled this particular gala to begin with... she was pretty sure it had something to do with the upcoming solstice but there was no way for her to know for sure now because she had no intention of asking. It would either lead to her dad getting mad at her for no reason... or else someone would actually take the time to tell her and she suspected it would be boring.

At that thought, her eyes flitted to Elfo and he raised his head to meet her gaze, eyes widening a little. He knew that look on her face. It was one that she had before most of these kinds of things and he was right to be wary of it. He would have known what this was for, but he was definitely in the latter category. He actually liked this kind of formal event, and even more than the event itself, he liked to read about the nuances of the scheduled balls and galas and probably knew exactly why they existed, who'd started them and all the tiny dumb traditions that came along with them. It was something that Bean had no patience for, not even from her boyfriend.

"Well..." Elfo began and Bean had to shoot him a warning look because she knew he was probably going to say something about how these events didn't happen _that_ often, and she was pleased that he'd grown familiar enough with her frustrations in these matters that he actually clamped a hand over his mouth to shut himself up. He made another muffled sound, probably the words that he'd been trying to avoid saying still emerging, albeit in an unrecognizable form. Then, after a few more seconds, he took a deep breath and dropped his hands. "I guess we could just ditch it?" He finally said, the words coming out slowly, as though they had to be dragged past his lips.

For good reason too. Bean stared at him in mild shock.

He'd been spending too much time around Luci. It was the only reasonable conclusion she could come to. Dismissing a major royal function was definitely not in Elfo's wheelhouse. Their gazes met and his cheeks flushed a bit darker green, his fingers fidgeting against his sides, tugging at the thin fabric of his tunic. Yeah, that seemed more in line with his usual behaviour. She could tell by the way he ducked his head a little, shuffling from foot to foot, that he knew he'd been caught out. More than that, his stance told her what he didn't want to say because he was afraid of upsetting her.

"You don't want to ditch it." She pointed out softly. 

Elfo bit his lip at that, turning away for a second with a high-pitched whine. Bean might have gotten impatient with him once, but she simply waited this time. She knew that sooner or later he'd just go ahead and blurt things out. Elfo was terrible with secrets... almost as bad as he was with lies. His small green fists clenched and he raised his chin, finally meeting her eyes with a pained look on his face. "No..." the words came out in a slow hiss, like they were being dragged out of him. There was a long pause, their eyes locked as Bean just waited for the inevitable. It came more slowly than usual, as Elfo first fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, then shuffled from foot to foot. Finally he wrung his hands in front of him and let out a plaintive little sound. "Yes."

And with that pathetic lie cast aside, the dam broke and Elfo continued. "I never get asked to do anything fancy. And I spend so much time reading about it-" He grimaced. "It's in all the books and just..." He scuffed his foot against the floor, "It just seems like every time there's something going on, we don't actually get to do anything. And I'm not sure if it's because I'm not... you know... someone important or because-"

Because he was an elf, probably. Bean came to the same conclusion at about the same time. People in Dreamland could be pretty racist. There weren't a lot of nonhumans to be found at most of their events unless they were party crashers - or if they were married to Bean's dad. It was something she'd always known about, but she hadn't thought it bothered Elfo to not be invited to these events except to the extent that no one remembered to directly uninvite him so he wound up hanging around anyway. But other than the whole debacle with Tess, he'd never had a dance partner or anything formal to acknowledge that he wasn't just some random elf in a corner.

"I'm sure it's just because you're not important-" she began, in an effort to reassure him in regards to racial issues. She stopped only a few words in because it occurred to her that this line of thinking probably wasn't any better. Who wanted to be considered a nobody? But there weren't many other approaches Bean could take at the moment or ways to reassure Elfo that might not just backfire on her in some other way. Bean let out a short breath between her teeth. "What I meant to say is... we can go together."

Bean didn't want to go. She really didn't. The events weren't fun for her at the best of times and most of the time had only served as a reminder that her place in the world was a pretty limiting one, despite any veneer of power and importance her role as a princess was supposed to bring her. Bean didn't have that worry now, her adventures had earned her a bit more respect on her own merit, even if the citizens of Dreamland were still dumbasses who got under her skin a lot of the time. But even without that, it still always left a bad taste in her mouth. ...and the events were always boring anyway so it wasn't like she would have attended to have fun.

But it was far from the worst thing she'd ever attended. Besides, she reasoned silently, she'd dragged Elfo into enough things he hadn't been keen on doing. The least she could do was one evening of fancy outfits and lazy small talk.

She knew it was the best response because Elfo's eyes lit up at that, his hands clasping in front of him as he almost squealed. "Y-you really mean it?"

"Yeah." She said, reaching a hand down to ruffle at his hair and trying to push the memory of her bad track record at parties to the back of her mind. "It'll be fun if we're both there. And after we're done with dancing, we can eat cheese." Or before the dancing. Or even during it. Cheese was always good.

Bean glanced at the dress she'd been given. Even if she was going to this thing, there was no way she was going to wear something like that. She mused on it, even as Elfo waxed poetic about fashion and various classical dances. 

-

She stood in the doorway, hesitating for a moment as she saw the press of bodies. Despite the number of horrible disasters that seemed to happen whenever there was a party or big event at the castle - Viking invasions, non-rampaging giants, monster attacks and more than Bean had managed to block out the memory of with the judicious use of alcohol - no one ever seemed to get the picture and actually stop coming to these things. As it was, Bean was starting to wonder herself if this was even a good idea. She didn't really want to admit it, but the inherent boredom that came with such events was only one reason she hadn't been keen to attend.

Everything was going so well with her and Elfo lately that she was getting more than a little worried that she was just waiting for something awful to happen. This whole royal function thing had all the hallmarks of something that would go rapidly south and lead to one of them needing to be rescued or getting hurt. 

Elfo wasn't even here yet, as far as she could see. Then again, there were so many people around, spotting someone his size might have proven difficult anyway. Bean eased her way further into the room, looking around. She was glad she hadn't bothered with something too frilly or bulky with this crowd around - and beneath her dress, she was still wearing her leggings, in case she needed to ditch the clothing and kick some ass at a moment's notice. A few men glanced her way and unlike the usual guys she ran into at events, these were dudes who were technically 'in her league' as far as rank and position went. Most of them were from neighboring kingdoms and had shown mild interest before, hoping for some kind of increase in position that would come with marrying a princess. Bean ignored their glances. She was off the market, as it were, and even if she weren't, most of them were boring gold diggers.

She didn't get too far into the room before Luci noticed her. He was schmoozing with a couple of well-heeled men that he was probably intending to rip off for large amounts of gold, but his priorities were clear as he padded over to Bean and looked her up and down. "So you came after all!" He climbed up her dress, unceremoniously, sitting on her shoulder. "And without Elfo. Did you finally get tired of him stepping on your feet?"

"No." If it had been someone besides Luci she might have been a little protective of her boyfriend but she knew that Luci had a soft spot for the both of them. "I just thought he'd already be here. We were supposed to meet up..." She gave another quick glance around, frowning. "I hope he didn't get lost."

"I think we'd be able to hear him scream if he got elfnapped again, at least." Luci said, anticipating her real fear. He spoke a bit softer than usual though, just for her ears. He was scanning the crowd too, head raised as though he was sniffing. He paused, ears perking for a second before he forced them to settle back in their normal position. "Never mind. He's just fashionably late." He drawled out. "I think he's been reading too many books on court etiquette lately." Before Bean could comment, Luci jumped down, landing easily on his feet. "Anyway, I'm going to get back to working over these idiots."

"We can hear you." One of the men grumbled.

"And yet you're still going to give me exactly what I want." Luci retorted as he turned back toward them with a confident swagger.

Bean shook her head at that, unable to help her small smile before she turned to look at where Luci had mentioned seeing Elfo. He was near the door where she'd come in, so if she'd just stayed there, he would have come right to her. She could just barely see the top of his hat from here and she had to shove her way back through the crowd to reach him. Fortunately for Bean, she had a lot of experience shoving people and knocking them around, something that a lot of these upper crust folks weren't used to having utilized against them in a physical sense. There were grumbles and glares thrown in her direction when she elbowed folks aside on her way back to the entryway and after a few particularly firm pushes, they started to pull away in front of her, not wanting to risk getting any bruises or bumps. The instinct to flee rippled through the gathered crowd and they nudged aside and left her a remarkably clear path to reaching her elf companion.

Elfo blinked, looking around in surprise as the pathway between them cleared, leaving the two of them staring at each other through the crowd. 

Bean couldn't help a small smile, realizing that Elfo had tried a lot harder than she had when it came to prepping for this whole event. He was actually dressed up, something that he didn't do often. She wasn't sure where he'd gotten his new outfit from, though since the elves had moved in there were considerably more options for him than there had been before. He was wearing that same pink shirt he'd worn back during that fitful ball where he'd danced with Tess... the same one he'd worn during their first kiss. He had a cute vest on over it though, and for once he was wearing more formal pants instead of his usual shorts

She started walked toward him, unencumbered by the jostling crowd and as she drew near, she eased down to one knee in front of him, reaching out to smooth the front of his waistcoat down. "You really were looking forward to this," she teased softly. "You got all dressed up." While he squirmed a little, ears flushing, he still had a hint of a hopeful smile at the edges of his lips, his expression shy.

"You don't mind?" He asked and she knew he wasn't talking about the outfit. It had taken some persuading to get Bean to agree to coming to this in any capacity more than just hanging out in a corner of the room and eating cheese cubes, something he was aware of but also rightfully nervous about after some of his bad behaviour early on in their relationship. It was something she'd forgiven him for and she knew he'd spent a long time working on improving himself, the same way she had, but that didn't mean it wasn't still something to worry about. Much the same way that she still worried about things like him being snatched up by random strangers. 

"It's not that bad," she said, reaching out and ruffling his hat, causing the front of it to dip across his eyes and making him sputter slightly as he moved to straighten it. She leaned in as he was still fumbling with trying to get his hat fixed, waiting until he'd managed to get it situated enough that he was actually able to see her before she slid a hand to the back of his head and pressed a very brief kiss to his lips. It was just a tiny motion, but it was more than enough to alleviate any concerns about her feelings. She tilted her head close to his ear. "But this means you totally owe me now." 

His eyes got wide at that but she only gave him a mischievous little grin, refusing to clarify what she meant. As much as she did sometimes think Luci went too far with his tormenting of Elfo, she couldn't deny that it was fun sometimes, especially with how easily he got flustered by even the smallest things. Besides, it wasn't like she had anything in mind that would actually hurt him. She'd just have to make sure they did something that she liked doing and that he wasn't so keen about. Like going to a sporting competition and oogling the shirtless players, or attending a loud concert.

As Bean pulled back, she noticed eyes on her. The majority of the crowd was just milling but they were drawing some attention based on the odd contrast between them. There were still those in Dreamland who hadn't adapted well to their elf neighbors and despite the fact that Elfo had been instrumental in helping her family to save the Kingdom, there were plenty of folks who didn't care for the fact that he and Bean were an item. It was the same sort of treatment that Oona had suffered under for years while married to Bean's father. Unlike Zog, though, Bean wasn't willing to put up with that kind of thing. Her gaze raked across the room, expression challenging anyone to dare and say something. Of course no one did, the cowards.

Bean held out her hand and Elfo's smaller one slipped easily into it. She led the way back toward the center of the crowded dance floor, to where the musicians were set up. No one was dancing and made the entire point of this whole thing moot. They'd come for a dance, damn it.

"Do you know anything a bit more up-tempo?" She asked the players, getting a couple of quizzical looks. But Bean's exploits had become notorious in Dreamland and when Zog wasn't directly counteracting her commands, it was always just safer to go along with what she was asking. The formerly sleepy pace of the music picked up a little, causing the crowd to stir in confusion. They drew back from the stage a little, a frazzled murmur rising. 

Most of the party's attendees weren't even equipped to dance, which defeated the entire purpose of an event like this but Bean, with her sensible shoes and lack of a corset, was prepared for any kind of physical activity. Sure, she'd been expecting it to take the form of having to chase down some interloper or fight off an angry mob - and given their luck, it was always still a possibility - but if she wound up using these advantages to show off her dance skills with Elfo instead, she wasn't going to complain.

She released Elfo's hand and stepped back into the now cleared out space on the dance floor, just in front of the musicians. Despite the fact that this entire thing had been his idea, he was nervous and sputtering, looking around at their rather large audience with a slight flush on his face and a hitch to his breath that told her he was nervous. Bean flashed him a grin. "Come on. This is why we came, right?"

"Well..." Elfo hesitated, looking around, ducking his head a little as though all of his time spent getting dressed up was being measured and considered. He let out a soft sigh, as Bean had known he would. He stepped forward, reaching for her hand and stepping in close enough. "I'm just not sure how it'll work." He confessed. "I usually just wind up getting picked up." The last time he'd danced with a bigger woman it had been with Tess, when there had been no chance of him ever being able to touch the floor so there'd been no point in trying. Bean was considerably taller than him but that didn't mean she was entirely impossible to dance with. 

Besides, this was far from the biggest problem they'd ever encountered when it came to their relationship. 

After a few seconds more where Elfo had one hand raised just shy of meeting her fingers with his own, Bean closed the rest of that distance to take hold of his hand. "Come on." She murmured low. "I know you can dance. Why don't you show me what you've got. Unless you really prefer dancing with Luci instead?" Elfo flushed to the tips of his pointy ears, probably unaware that Luci had told Bean about it ages ago while bitching to her about how Elfo was being an unmitigated pain in his ass. It had been one of the first times she'd thought about Elfo like that - when drugs weren't involved, anyway.

But she hadn't seen him dance in person, unless counting the occasional times he was bidden to do so for Zog's amusement while he was in his cage.

"N-no." Elfo sputtered quickly, then bit his lip. "I'd like to dance with you." Bolstered by the admission - or perhaps remembering that he no longer had to worry about trying to not make himself look ridiculous around Bean since she would have had ample opportunities to ditch him well before now if she'd really wanted to - Elfo's fingers curled more tightly against hers and he moves a few paces. Though his legs were short, she could recognize the steps of a waltz, though it was hard for her to follow. 

She tried though. It was a struggle to keep her steps short enough that she wasn't overwhelming him by her pace. Her knee bumped against him, forcing him to lean against her leg to steady himself. That caused her to stumble, almost falling for a second before catching herself. Their slight misstep hadn't gone unnoticed as some eyes flitted to them and there was a soft ripple of amusement through the crowd. Beam pushed it aside. If she'd spent much time caring about what people thought of her, she would have been paralyzed by it on far too many occasions to name. She could feel Elfo tensing against her though and she slid a hand down to rest between his shoulder blades, careful not to slide too low.

"Hey." She said, soft but a little snappy as his eyes kept threatening to go to the people around them. "Elfo." It took a little bit of this prodding to get his attention but once she did, he gave her that look, desperately asking what he should do without ever saying any words. Bean just held his gaze and after a few seconds he calmed a bit, enough that she could point out the obvious. "Don't look at them. You're dancing with me."

His face went red for a second but this time it wasn't because of the crowd. He flashed her a smile at that then, softly, "I don't think the actual dance is going to work though..." he confided, "You can do a lot of ballroom dances without being close in height but I think we might be a little... too much." He looked down at himself then up at her. "I can't lead like this." 

It summed up the problem rather handily. Elfo's short legs made it hard for him to lead without Bean constantly stepping on him because she wasn't equipped to take the shorter steps. Plus there was little chance he'd be able to do any dips or twirls with his arms so short. But a potential solution struck Bean quickly. "I have an idea," she said as she dropped to her knee beside him, curling an arm around him and drawing him in close. He came willingly, burying his face against her shoulder. When she drew back from the embrace, she looked into his trusting gaze. "Let me lead."

His eyes lit up at that.

It made sense though, didn't it? Given everything she'd already been through, all the personal growth and struggles she'd had in establishing herself as more than a prop for the royal court, this felt like a natural extension. She wasn't just a follower, she was a leader. If she could lead in combat then there was no reason for her to be the one following in a dance. If she'd felt stifled in the past by her position, it was only because she'd known she could do more... and now she could prove it. 

And unlike all the guys she'd tried to dance with in the past, she wasn't worried about whether or not Elfo would protest if she wanted to lead. 

This time, when Bean stepped Elfo followed her lead. There was still some awkwardness - Elfo was half her size, it was inevitable - but there was no danger of him stepping on her toes at least. 

The murmur that went through the crowd was a bit scandalized this time, and she knew it wasn't specifically because she was dancing with Elfo but rather because it was clear to anyone who'd grown up in this rigid structure of gender roles that she'd assumed the man's position in their dance. She cast her gaze across them and smirked, giving her heel a slight twist so the relatively short fabric of her dress slid up her leg enough to make the leggings she was wearing underneath more visible. If they had a problem with her being the way she was, they'd better get over with. She was through changing to suit other people.

She dipped Elfo and he let out a soft squeak when the sheer energy behind her movement swept him entirely off his feet for a second. His arm slid around her neck to steady himself and she could feel the rapid patter of his heartbeat with him so close. "Doing okay?" She asked, just for his ears. She was having fun at one of these events for once, showing up all the people who'd frustrated her over the years, but she'd agreed to dance because Elfo had wanted to. If he wasn't having fun, then why were they even here?

"Yeah," Elfo breathed, a soft, excited pant. His chest hitched but this time he was giggling a little. He'd finally forgotten about their audience and was focused just on her. Good. That was good. 

As she set him back down on his feet, things moved more easily, a few more steps that maybe weren't exactly the way this kind of dance was supposed to go, compensating for both their difference in height and the fact that they just worked _better_ for the two of them. If it worked then that was the important part. There was nothing wrong with thinking outside the box!

Elfo hopped up into her arms on a return twirl, a little winded from the dancing. She held him against her chest for a second and then he leaned back enough in her arms that they could look at each other. "I think I've had enough dancing." He said. Unlike earlier, he didn't sound like he was freaked out by the audience or overwhelmed by the event itself. Bean agreed. As much as she was finally having fun, there was little they could do here that they couldn't do better with just the two of them.

Bean turned her head, shifting her grip on Elfo so she could wave at the band. "Thanks for playing, guys. I think we're going to cut out now." 

This time she didn't bother setting Elfo down, just carrying him toward the door as the confused crowd glanced around. The band didn't stop playing though their confusion was palpable. Pausing in the doorway, Bean noticed that a couple of people from the crowd had shuffled awkwardly to the center of the dance floor and seemed to be trying to do their own dance moves. They weren't great at it - really who could dance well in those corsets? - but Bean couldn't help but be both amused at their efforts and a little pleased. Sure, maybe they were doing it because no one wanted to be shown up by such a weird couple, but there was the off-chance they were doing it just because they wanted to and because it was easier to do your own thing when someone else had already blazed a trail to follow.

"That's not a waltz," Elfo grumbled in her ear and she gave him a slight swat to the forehead to shush him.

"Let them dance however they want." she said, then followed up with a soft kiss to show she wasn't really angry. "Now that we've done your thing, how about I pick what we do next?" She winked at him.

Elfo blinked slowly, not getting her drift for a few long seconds. Bean waited. He'd get it eventually. 

And he did, after a few seconds, his breath catching in his throat. "Yes." He said. "That's only fair."

Bean grinned as she shifted him in her arms and headed up the stairs toward her room. 

-


End file.
